The Seven Seas of Jellicle
by raptoregg64
Summary: It's 1526. The Jellicles of Europe, fearful of human persecution, must make a long and dangerous journey to the only place that they can be safe- the Far East. On the way, they will meet a few interesting characters, and make a few friends...


_**The Seven Seas of Jellicle**_

_**Chapter One**_

Black-cloaked figures shivered as the winter storm caused waves to rock their small boats mercilessly. Every one of the melancholy-looking passengers glanced around at the lonely countryside with curiously feline features before boarding. The captain of the fleet growled at them to get moving.

"We don't have long," the grizzled sailor told them. "Hurry up." At last, the final passenger stepped onto the boat, and, with a good shove, they were off.

"Next stop- the main ship," the captain told them. "Once we unload there, we sail to Turkey."

"Thank you for doing this, Captain Morgan," a silver tabby cat-man told him quietly.

"It's the least I could do for you French Jellicles. I used to be part of the English branch, myself." The tabby, Munkustrap, smiled sadly at him and sat next to him.

"Yes, well… Look at the state we're in," he commented bitterly. "Reduced to fleeing from humans, with nowhere left to go except _Asia!"_ He spat the word out like a curse.

"It only takes three weeks to get there," Morgan tried to comfort. "It's nothing like the three months that it takes to reach the New World."

"Still, there's much more traveling to be done on foot after we reach Turkey," Demeter, Munkustrap's wife, sighed.

"Don't worry, Mama, we'll make it," Jemima told her mother. She always managed to be optimistic, even when the odds were so precariously turned against them. "Besides, after we travel by land to… erm… what's it called, Etcie?" Etcetera, the Jellicle in question, scratched her head.

"In-day-uh, or something like that," Etcetera recalled.

"Yes, after we travel to In-day-uh, we'll get on a boat again and travel to… uh… I forgot." Jemima looked at her friend for help, who shrugged.

"I'm only taking you as far as India, so I don't know where you'll be headed afterwards. But we need to get there first, don't we?" A rare smile graced Morgan's features, softening them. "Here's the ship- climb up." He gestured to a rope ladder, thrown down by one of the deckhands. The Englishman quickly ascended after Munkustrap, to help the rest of their party up. Jemima modestly tucked her skirt between her legs as she climbed, and, not for the first time, wished that she could have been wearing breeches. Once everyone was on board, they were quickly ushered to their small cabins. As it was hardly a luxury cruise, many Jellicles were forced to share the same lodgings.

"At least we won't have to run from the humans anymore," Etcie whispered as she lay, squashed between Jemima and the third member of their trio, Electra, on a hammock.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Electra reminded her gently. "In fact, we're not even _in_ the woods!" With a soft giggle, they said goodnight to each other and fell asleep.

~*~

Jemima squinted at the black smudge on the horizon. Lifting up the spyglass given to her for "crow's-nest duty," she attempted to discern a shape through the haze surrounding their ship.

They had been sailing for a week and a half onboard the _Maneki Neko_, a Japanese ship led by a Siamese Jellicle named Gilbert. He had quickly assigned his passengers some of the simpler duties, such as keeping the ship clean. Jemima had been assigned to look out for land or other ships.

"I think it's a ship," the calico queen murmured. Adjusting her telescope, she searched for the name of the ship.

"Ship ho!" she cried once she had spotted the moniker. "It's called the _Tiberius._" There was a gasp from the Siamese crew.

"It's Growltiger!" Gilbert shouted. "Prepare to board!"

"Gilbert!" Morgan snapped. "We don't have time! We need to get the Jellicles to Turkey- you can pursue your petty rivalries with the Bravo Cat later!" After a short, heated argument, Gilbert consented.

"Fine," the Siamese grumbled. "Full speed ahead! Raise the sails! Grab the oars! Get that conjuring cat out here to make us some wind!" Two of the sailors saluted and went to find Mistoffelees, the tuxedoed tom who was the ship's magician. Jemima felt rather sorry for him- he was very young for such a hard life.

"Yes, sir?" Misto asked timidly.

"Conjure a wind for us, will you? We need to get moving," Gilbert commanded. Misto gulped, knowing the consequences of meddling with nature, but steadied himself and called to the goddess of winds, medicines, and mothers.

"O Great Goddess Bast, I beseech thee to bestow thy holy abilities unto me. Please carry our ship to safer waters with the great east-traveling winds." Nothing happened for a few moments, when a huge gust of wind emptied itself into the ship's sails, propelling them towards the Straits of Gibraltar. Mistoffelees fell over in a faint- one of the side effects of working such magic- and a sailor had to grab hold of him to stop him from blowing away. Jemima clung to the railing as everyone else grabbed onto any secure thing they could see. The timbers rattled, and the nails threatened to come out, which would have sunken the entire ship.

Luckily, after half an hour of frighteningly strong winds, the slowed down to a gently halt. Jemima shakily got to her feet, her hair mussed and her eyes wild.

"Is everyone alright?" Munkustrap called from below her. The other Jellicles replied that they hadn't been harmed, although Mistoffelees had fainted. Jennyanydots and Jellylorum, two of the refugees, took him to the medical cabin.

"We need to take the ship in for repairs in Tunisia," Morgan growled. "Algeria's occupied by the Spaniards, and they don't take kindly to us."

"I am the captain of this ship, and I give the orders!" barked Gilbert. "I say we dock the ship for repairs in Tunisia! Then we can continue on our way- and, according to my calculations, we should arrive in Turkey in just one week. That wind really shortened the trip."

"Except for the fact that we'll need to stay in Tunisia for at least a week," the English Jellicle added. "So we'll probably arrive in Turkey exactly when we were supposed to." All of the people on board groaned. They didn't want to stay on the ship any longer than was necessary.


End file.
